Remember the other day I told you I was working on my computer, installing some hardware upgrades? That saga continues and is yet to be resolved. Sigh! Unfortunately I know just enough about computers to get myself into trouble and not be able to fully get myself back out again. So I’m telling you because it’s taking up a lot of my brain power, trying to figure out how to get everything to play nice. So that’s that!
Also, I don’t often talk about politics, but I told you about the federal funding of religious schools bill that Joe Lieberman was pushing. I thought you might like an update. In this case, secular values won! Woot!
Here’s what the Secular Coalition for America said about the victory:
Two weeks ago, we alerted you to Sen. Joe Lieberman’s proposed amendment to the Senate jobs bill that would reauthorize the “D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program,” an initiative that forced American taxpayers to subsidize religious institutions through school vouchers.
A July 2009 report by Rutgers University on the D.C. voucher program concluded that the way the voucher program is structured “essentially push[es] students into Christian Association and Catholic schools, pricing out independent (non-religious) schools and Hebrew schools.”
Those of us who do not wish to subsidize religion with our tax dollars would continue to be forced to do so if Senator Lieberman had his way.
Thousands of you responded, writing to your senators to tell them that public funds should be never be used to pay for anyone’s religion. The amendment never made it to the jobs bill–though Senator Lieberman promised he would bring it back as soon as he could.
So the Secular Coalition for America took your message directly to the Senate. SCA staff met personally with over fifteen key senators to make the case that our tax dollars must not be used to fund religious activities, particularly in schools.
Tonight, Senator Lieberman managed to bring the amendment to the floor, attaching it this time to a bill funding the Federal Aviation Administration. Debate was heard, votes were cast, and the amendment was defeated, 42 to 55. We worked together, and helped to stop the unconstitutional public financing of religious education.
It’s only the latest sign that the secular movement is growing. Just last month, the Secular Coalition for America and representatives of the secular movement met with the Obama administration for an official policy briefing-the first of its kind for our movement in history-opening up new lines of dialogue between our community and the White House. Many more issues lay before us, and we need your help to keep up the momentum.
If you are interested, sign up for the SCA Action Alerts. When the rights and values of nontheistic Americans are on the line and you can put in your two cents, the SCA makes it really easy.
Want to see how your senators voted on this bill? Go here. Then if they voted nay, consider going to that senator’s official contact page and thanking them for respecting the separation of church and state.
Please keep commenting about Advertisements and Logical Fallacies. I am still thinking about your input for a follow-up.
